These slides accompanied a short (10 min.) talk on Open Educative Systems presented by Liza Loop at the Brink Institute Conference in Palm Springs on June xx, 2015.
The penultimate (7th) slide depicts where learning takes place: Home, Community, Camp Care or specialized classroom (the green circle).
Home is where the family lives whether a single individual, a nuclear family of parent(s) and kid(s), an extended family of multiple generations or a "tribe". Family members usually share food, sleeping quarters, personal effects and money differently inside and outside the family. They are also likely to provide care for young, sick, injured or infirm family members without being paid. Home is where infants often learn to walk and talk and basic cultural norms are passed from old to young. While most families on Earth are comprised of genetically related individuals this is not always the case. Human family arrangements on Mars may be very different but it's likely each person will have a home and family of some kind.
Community is the word I use to connote most of the public spaces people inhabit, including workplaces, recreational facilities and government agencies. When people are "in the community" they are pretty much on their own, without close adult supervision or control. Adults spend a lot of their time in community spaces while young children and older people with infirmities are more likely to be accompanied by an adult when they venture out into the community.
Camp Care is an institution much like both child and adult day care in the US except for a few enhancements. It functions 24/7, year 'round, and is supported with public funds. Camp Care is an always-available alternative to Home with a staff that specializes in creating supportive social situations for those members of society who are not ready or able to be either at home or in the community alone. Although there is some risk that families may "dump" their difficult or expensive family members at Camp, Care workers are alert to such situations and refer them to other social service agencies. The easy availability of Camp Care means that other institutions, specifically classrooms and studios or sports clubs, do not find themselves pressured to provide custodial care for people who are not actively using these specialized facilities.
Classrooms are special-purpose learning environments designed to scaffold teaching that cannot be delivered effectively through the Open Portal Learning Resource. Although a classroom may be a large lecture hall, most large spaces are for dances, sports or live concerts. Lectures are usually pre-recorded and shown on demand through the Open Portal. People gather in small group classrooms to discuss what they have learned in their online courses of study with fellow students and one or more teachers. Learning that requires unique tools or materials such as science labs, mechanic or wood shops, art studios or commercial kitchens takes place in specialized classrooms that are closer to "maker spaces" than traditional school rooms. Classrooms are expensive to maintain and are shared by many student groups with their teachers. They are not frequented by people uninterested in the topic being learned there or individuals who lack the social skills to benefit from the activities offered.
The Data Processing Cloud (the blue background) is the computing center/server farm that delivers "internet" throughout this (currently) imaginary world. It can be accessed via personal devices or public terminals that are abundant everywhere. A learner at work, at play, at home, in a classroom or at Camp Care can access his or her learning transcript, personal calendar, current or past courses, educative counselor -- all the facilities now available on the world wide web plus several we haven't yet implemented.
Open Portal Learning Resources (center mauve circle) are the specific cyberspaces that support all types of learning that are appropriate for distance media. This is the heart of any Open Educative System and will be discussed in a separate article. What is important to note here is that Open Portal Learning is always accessible. Its availability enables significant changes in the roles of classroom and teacher as we knew them in the 20th century.
Professional Roles (yellow labels), a few of which are depicted in this slide, are significantly modified in Open Educative Systems because people circulate through the physical spaces differently. Conspicuously absent from this slide is "teacher". This role, which used to evoke an image of a youngish woman standing at the front of a desk-filled room occupied by children, will split into many, varied occupations that involve everything from skilled nursing care to expert computer programming to cognitive science research in learning to leading conflict resolution encounter groups. The personnel requirements of an Open Educative Systems is yet another article to be posted here shortly.
I have several reasons for choosing the title: Open Educative Systems. To begin, OES is a system of independent, collaborating institutions rather than a monolithic "school". As the 21st century moves through its second decade we are still heaping so many competing responsibilities onto traditional classroom teachers that few feel they can do a satisfactory job. Each stakeholder, parent, student, administrator, curriculum specialist, counselor, school board member, future employer, has a favorite whipping boy and complains that the schools is failing to put adequate resources into their particular point of emphasis. An OES does not ask a subject matter specialist teacher to also act as an emotional counselor or crowd controller. It recognizes that learning takes place throughout life, in every situation and that one size (or style) does not fit all learners. Each institution is optimized to perform its function and to articulate with the others. Thus, the Camp Care worker may deliver a young football player to the coach on the playing field but does not have to know how to play that game. The player who throws a temper tantrum on the field knows s/he will be sent promptly back to Camp where comfort and socialization are the key components, not athletic prowess. When more ready, the player may return to the field although s/he may have missed the lessons the coach was able to offer more willing players.
This page and wiki section is a work in progress. I'll add more as time permits. Please feel invited to add your comments, suggestions and edits by joining this wiki. Together we can build a bridge from the schools and colleges we have to today to a more effective, efficient and personally fulfilling future. Liza Loop, July 1, 2015 (liza@hcle.org)
TT feedback on slidedeck (which questions does it bring up? holes?)
proof of slides 2 & 3 are how well they worked - well. I’ve used this one for years.
slide 4 - is it only media, or is software involved? - good point.
slide 5 - could it be like - improved. thanks.
Provide colonists with learning support
conception to death
use today’s technologies
maximize efficiency
minimize physical infrastructure
replace face-to-face with…?
Face-to-face activities
traditional classrooms
field trips
laboratories
rehearsal spaces
maker shops
slide 6 - break #8 into #8 & #9?
Camp Care
Takes over “day care” functions of today’s classrooms
Is responsible to transporting clients to f2f activities
Available 24/7
Provides age-appropriate socialization
Teaches “emotional intelligence”
Operates in parallel with “home”
slide 7 - outer circle is best, looking forward to improved graphics
Overall - necessarily very general, but wonder if a specific solution is in mind - yes. This deck is only as illustration for live presentations.
These slides accompanied a short (10 min.) talk on Open Educative Systems presented by Liza Loop at the Brink Institute Conference in Palm Springs on June xx, 2015.
The penultimate (7th) slide depicts where learning takes place: Home, Community, Camp Care or specialized classroom (the green circle).
I have several reasons for choosing the title: Open Educative Systems. To begin, OES is a system of independent, collaborating institutions rather than a monolithic "school". As the 21st century moves through its second decade we are still heaping so many competing responsibilities onto traditional classroom teachers that few feel they can do a satisfactory job. Each stakeholder, parent, student, administrator, curriculum specialist, counselor, school board member, future employer, has a favorite whipping boy and complains that the schools is failing to put adequate resources into their particular point of emphasis. An OES does not ask a subject matter specialist teacher to also act as an emotional counselor or crowd controller. It recognizes that learning takes place throughout life, in every situation and that one size (or style) does not fit all learners. Each institution is optimized to perform its function and to articulate with the others. Thus, the Camp Care worker may deliver a young football player to the coach on the playing field but does not have to know how to play that game. The player who throws a temper tantrum on the field knows s/he will be sent promptly back to Camp where comfort and socialization are the key components, not athletic prowess. When more ready, the player may return to the field although s/he may have missed the lessons the coach was able to offer more willing players.
This page and wiki section is a work in progress. I'll add more as time permits. Please feel invited to add your comments, suggestions and edits by joining this wiki. Together we can build a bridge from the schools and colleges we have to today to a more effective, efficient and personally fulfilling future. Liza Loop, July 1, 2015 (liza@hcle.org)